Program bringing missing people home in Doña Ana County

From elderly people with Alzheimer’s to children with
autism, program used in Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Officer has been helping
families bring their loved ones home when they go missing.

In Dona Ana County there are more than 40 people who use the
bracelets right now.

The sheriff’s office has been offering the Project Lifesaver
program to residents for more than 20 years now.

It’s aimed at quickly finding people who may wander.

The caretaker of someone who gets lost often or could be
prone to wandering.

They can contact the sheriffs department to see if the
person qualifies for a bracelet.

The bracelet has a transmitter inside. If the person goes missing a Project
Lifesaver volunteer or specialist like Stephen Dail uses a receiver that pings
whenever the receiver is pointing in the direction of the bracelet within one
mile.

“If a person who wanders, is wandering overnight,
typically and statistically half of them are not found alive. So the fact that
we can find them within minutes or hours, instead of days it just means that
there is a greater chance of a positive outcome,” said Stephen Dail, a
project lifesaver specialist.

There is $10 monthly fee.
However, if a client cannot pay the fee they may qualify for the
bracelet free of charge.